A year and a half to complete a large theater in a small town does not seem surprising, especially considering that the national economy had just hit the bottom of the recession of 1920-21 at the time the map was made, and arranging financing for large projects was still difficult in some places, particularly in manufacturing towns (Point Marion’s largest employer was a glass factory.)
The AMPD most likely did get the name of the town and opera house wrong. The publication surely has more than a few other mistakes, too.
Barney’s Theatre in Point Marion is mentioned in the August 7, 1954 issue of The Independent Film Journal. Owner Jack Mapel is quoted in an ad for the Cinemascope company saying “I have been thinking about turning my theatre into anything I could, and now I think I will remain in show business.” I haven’t been able to discover if he did or not, but at least we know that Barney’s Theatre was still in existence in the summer of 1954.
The October 4, 1922 issue of The Moving Picture World indicates that Barney’s Theatre had moved to a new location:
“Barney’s Theatre at Point Marion, Pa., is again ready for business. The house seats 1,000. Barney’s older and smaller house has been closed.”
I suspect that the house on the Sanborn map had originally operated under a different name, and was taken over by Barney’s in 1922. Point Marion appears in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory as Port Marion, with two theaters listed: the Port Marion Opera House on Janes Street, and the Vaudeville Theatre on Penn Street, so the Vaudevile Theatre is the only one likely to have become Barney’s in 1922. I’ve been unable to find Port (or Point) Marion listed in the Cahn guides. However, Barney’s Theatre is mentioned in the March 23, 1929 issue of Universal Weekly.
The modern address of the building in which the Taylor Theatre is seen in the vintage photo we display is 143 W. Jackson Street. It has not been demolished, but is occupied by the Ivy Cottage Antique Store.
During the 1950s and at least into the early 1960s this house was advertised as the Fox Yuma Theatre. The January 13, 1951 issue of Boxoffice reported that management of the house had been taken over by Fox West Coast Theates following an extensive remodeling project costing $100,000. The Yuma had previously been managed by the Rickard-Nace circuit, who owned the theater in partnership with Fox.
This page from the University of Northern Florida’s Historical Architecture Gallery says that the Lyric Theatre was built in 1923. An earlier house also called the Lyric Theatre was in operation by 1914, when it was one of four movie theaters listed at Waycross in the American Motion Picture Directory.
The official web site link is defunct. The State Theatre Company also has a Facebook page, but it hasn’t been updated in almost two years. There is also a Twitter feed, but its last update is from 28 June 2017. The theater company was presenting events that year, but apparently not at the theater itself. I haven’t found anything more recent, and suspect that the renovation project is currently moribund.
Boxoffice of November 9, 1964, said that the Elizabeth Theatre in Falmouth had recently reopened after having been closed fro a month for refurbishment. Improvements included a new, larger screen and all new equipment in the booth.
The November 9, 1964 issue of Boxoffice said that the Victoria Theatre in Chicopee, which was being extensively remodeled, would reopen as the Cabot Theatre. Seating capacity would be reduced to 650, to provide more room between rows.
An article in the November 9, 1964 issue of Boxoffice noted the upcoming opening of the new La Parisien Theatre, but it also said that the Shafer Theatre had been demolished to make way for it.
The November 9, 1964 issue of Boxoffice noted the recent opening of a new theater called the Eagle in Seagraves. There were no details about the new house, but the item said the owner was named J. B. Prather.
The architect’s name is misspelled. The notice of this theater’s construction in Boxoffice of November 9, 1964, has a different misspelling, Yurchinson. The correct spelling, as listed in the directories of the American Institute of Architects and in the architect’s obituaries is George Edward Yurchison.
The University Theatre Building, originally the Buckingham Library, has multiple performance and rehearsal spaces, as well as classrooms and labs. The University Theatre itself, the largest of the performance spaces, is a proscenium house with continental seating, accommodating 412 in orchestra and balcony. In its current configuration it has a Streamline Modern look, which probably dates from Glen Huntington’s 1940 design for re-purposing the space.
George W. Roe’s 1904 exterior design is a bit eclectic, looking more Italian Renaissance than anything else, but with strong lingering elements of Romanesque Revival. Photos of both the exterior and the University Theatre auditorium are featured on this page of the University of Colorado’s web site.
UCB’s film series was moved to the newly completed, 400-seat Muenzinger Auditorium in 1983, and now also has a secondary venue in the 200-seat Visual Arts Complex Auditorium.
This paragraph is from a brief article about a Steger & Sons piano, originally installed in Clyne’s Theatre, now in the possession of the Steelworks Center Museum in Pueblo:
“The Clyne Theater, located at 417-419 West Northern Avenue, opened in June of 1917 with a showing of Satan’s Private Door, a Musty Suffer comedy, and an ‘athletic short’ film. According to a Pueblo Chieftain article, more than 3,000 people attended the films throughout the day. The theater included 800 seats on the lower level and 300 in the balcony. Advertisements for the theater describe it as having gradually sloping seats, a sunken orchestra pit under the front of the stage, and a drinking fountain in the lobby. In August 1934, the Clyne closed for a short time to install the latest in theater technology, an RCA Victor Photophone High Fidelity Sound System, rendering the piano an obsolete piece of theater technology. The Clyne Theater remained in operation showing films until the late 1960s. The Steger and Sons Piano was donated to the Steelworks Center in 2007.”
An item about the Clyne Theatre appearing in the April 14, 1917 issue of The American Contractor names G. W. Roe as the architect for the project. A brief biography of George W. Roe from the Colorado Historical Society says that he also designed the 1904 library building at the University of Colorado in Boulder which was later converted into the University Theatre.
The April 14, 1917 issue of The American Contractor had this item about a theater to be built in Table Rock:
“Theater: $20,000. 2 sty. & bas. 32x94. Table Rock, Nebr. Archt. A. Bandy, 138 S. 13th, Lincoln. Owner Community Syndicate, care E. E. Hassel, mgr., Table Rock. Owner builds by day work. Brk. & Carthage or Bedford stone, tar & gravel rf., cement & tile trpf. Excav.”
The only other references I can find to A. Bandy on the Internet are all connected with his design of the Lincoln Hotel in Scottsbluff. His connection to the Table Rock Theatre has apparently been forgotten by local historians, as I don’t find him mentioned on the page SethG linked to.
The book I cited on my 2012 comment dating the opening of the Capitol Theatre to 1935 was wrong, according to Jan Bradley, the Capitol’s last owner, and granddaughter of the theater’s founder, Earle Hendren. The house opened in September, 1940, and was converted into a twin cinema in the 1980s by Bradley’s father, who enclosed the balcony to accommodate a second screen. Bradley is quoted in this article published by The Erwin Record on August 9, 2019. The article, which announced Bradley’s decision to make the closing of the theater permanent, did not give the exact date of the Capitol’s last shows.
I could submit a page for it, but it would be very sketchy as I don’t have either a timeline for the theater or definite evidence of what the modern address would be. Perhaps Ken Roe would be able to find more information about it and add a page. I think he might have access to resources that I don’t have.
The Majestic Theatre that was next door to the Hippodrome was not the same house as the 1915 Majestic. The first Majestic must have either closed or been renamed by the time the new Majestic opened in 1915. As the Hippodrome opened in 1912 and lasted less than a year, closing in early 1913, the photo showing both of these houses in operation had to have been taken during that brief time.
I’ve been trying to discover if the old Majestic survived the opening of the new house, but the task is complicated by the fact that Detroit changed its addresses in 1921. As near as I can figure, the old Majestic’s address of 231-233 ended up in the 1500 block, and was just below Witherell Street. The first Majestic and Hippodrome were across the street and up a couple of doors from the Woodward Arcade, still standing at 1545 Woodward, so the first Majestic was probably at approximately 1550 Woodward. Apparently Cinema Treasures has no pages for either of them.
The original Hippodrome only lasted from July, 1912 until early 1913, so this photo has to date from that period. Over the sidewalk on the near side of the street we can see the sign for the Woodward Arcade, which has the modern address 1545 Woodward, which would put the first Majestic, the Hippodrome’s neighbor, at approximately 1550 Woodward.
This article from a local Westfield web site says that the 1941 Grand Theatre was the third of that name on the site. The first Grand opened in 1917, with 775 seats, and was destroyed by a fire on November 3, 1923. The rebuilt house reopened in September, 1924, and was destroyed in a second fire in 1940.
The third Grand opened July 17, 1941. The house was taken over by the Blatt Brothers circuit on July 7, 1965, and then by Kirsch Theatres of Erie, PA in the late 1970s. It closed around 1982. Plans were afoot to reopen the house in 1985, but they came to nothing. The building was demolished in 1992.
The January 1, 1910 issue of The New York Dramatic Mirror mentions the Geyer Grand Theatre in Lexington, Missouri. Charles Geyer was listed as the manager. The Geyer Grand was listed in the 1910-1911 Cahn guide as a 740-seat, ground floor house. It had been listed in the 1909-1910 guide as the New Grand Theatre.
A letter from the Lexington Historical Association in response to the Historic Missouri Theatres Questionnaire (a very large pdf but quite useful,) and dated June 10, 1998, has this paragraph about the Grand:
“Our most notorious theatre was the Grand Opera House built in 1879 by Henry Hagan. Hagan built the structure at a cost of $5,000 and the price of the lot. It was 40' by 100' and seated 800 people. It’s opening in 1885 and featured ‘Othello’. The opera house was later known as Wrights Theatre until its destruction by fire in August of 1924. It was located at the corner of what is now 9th Street and Franklin Avenue.”
The house had become Wright’s Grand Theatre by 1913, as that is how it is listed in the 1913-1914 Cahn Guide. As the Grand is not one of the two movie houses listed at Lexington in the 1914-1915 edition of The American Motion Picture Directory it was likely still a live theater at that time. However, by 1917 (and possibly by late 1915) it had begun showing movies, as this item appeared in the September 1, 1917 issue of The Moving Picture World:
“YOUNG BUYS GRAND THEATER AT LEXINGTON.
“John C. Young, who for about two years has been associated with Clyde Wright as part owner of Wright’s Grand theater, Lexington, Mo., has purchased Mr. Wright’s interest in the house. Mr. Young, who will now assume full charge, is welt fitted for his duties as he has had several years experience in the motion picture business. This change is due to Mr. Wright’s recent illness, together with the great increase in his duties as Justice of the Peace. He has proved himself to be an enterprising manager and a great believer in the efficiency of advertising, and his many friends regret to see him give up the business with which he has been associated for several years.”
A year and a half to complete a large theater in a small town does not seem surprising, especially considering that the national economy had just hit the bottom of the recession of 1920-21 at the time the map was made, and arranging financing for large projects was still difficult in some places, particularly in manufacturing towns (Point Marion’s largest employer was a glass factory.)
The AMPD most likely did get the name of the town and opera house wrong. The publication surely has more than a few other mistakes, too.
Barney’s Theatre in Point Marion is mentioned in the August 7, 1954 issue of The Independent Film Journal. Owner Jack Mapel is quoted in an ad for the Cinemascope company saying “I have been thinking about turning my theatre into anything I could, and now I think I will remain in show business.” I haven’t been able to discover if he did or not, but at least we know that Barney’s Theatre was still in existence in the summer of 1954.
The October 4, 1922 issue of The Moving Picture World indicates that Barney’s Theatre had moved to a new location:
I suspect that the house on the Sanborn map had originally operated under a different name, and was taken over by Barney’s in 1922. Point Marion appears in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory as Port Marion, with two theaters listed: the Port Marion Opera House on Janes Street, and the Vaudeville Theatre on Penn Street, so the Vaudevile Theatre is the only one likely to have become Barney’s in 1922. I’ve been unable to find Port (or Point) Marion listed in the Cahn guides. However, Barney’s Theatre is mentioned in the March 23, 1929 issue of Universal Weekly.The modern address of the building in which the Taylor Theatre is seen in the vintage photo we display is 143 W. Jackson Street. It has not been demolished, but is occupied by the Ivy Cottage Antique Store.
Street view.
The recent opening of the rebuilt Aztec Theatre as the Esquire was noted in the January 13, 1951 issue of Boxoffice.
During the 1950s and at least into the early 1960s this house was advertised as the Fox Yuma Theatre. The January 13, 1951 issue of Boxoffice reported that management of the house had been taken over by Fox West Coast Theates following an extensive remodeling project costing $100,000. The Yuma had previously been managed by the Rickard-Nace circuit, who owned the theater in partnership with Fox.
The Grand was one of four movie theaters listed at Waycross in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory.
This page from the University of Northern Florida’s Historical Architecture Gallery says that the Lyric Theatre was built in 1923. An earlier house also called the Lyric Theatre was in operation by 1914, when it was one of four movie theaters listed at Waycross in the American Motion Picture Directory.
The official web site link is defunct. The State Theatre Company also has a Facebook page, but it hasn’t been updated in almost two years. There is also a Twitter feed, but its last update is from 28 June 2017. The theater company was presenting events that year, but apparently not at the theater itself. I haven’t found anything more recent, and suspect that the renovation project is currently moribund.
Boxoffice of November 9, 1964, said that the Elizabeth Theatre in Falmouth had recently reopened after having been closed fro a month for refurbishment. Improvements included a new, larger screen and all new equipment in the booth.
The November 9, 1964 issue of Boxoffice said that the Victoria Theatre in Chicopee, which was being extensively remodeled, would reopen as the Cabot Theatre. Seating capacity would be reduced to 650, to provide more room between rows.
An article in the November 9, 1964 issue of Boxoffice noted the upcoming opening of the new La Parisien Theatre, but it also said that the Shafer Theatre had been demolished to make way for it.
The November 9, 1964 issue of Boxoffice noted the recent opening of a new theater called the Eagle in Seagraves. There were no details about the new house, but the item said the owner was named J. B. Prather.
The architect’s name is misspelled. The notice of this theater’s construction in Boxoffice of November 9, 1964, has a different misspelling, Yurchinson. The correct spelling, as listed in the directories of the American Institute of Architects and in the architect’s obituaries is George Edward Yurchison.
The University Theatre Building, originally the Buckingham Library, has multiple performance and rehearsal spaces, as well as classrooms and labs. The University Theatre itself, the largest of the performance spaces, is a proscenium house with continental seating, accommodating 412 in orchestra and balcony. In its current configuration it has a Streamline Modern look, which probably dates from Glen Huntington’s 1940 design for re-purposing the space.
George W. Roe’s 1904 exterior design is a bit eclectic, looking more Italian Renaissance than anything else, but with strong lingering elements of Romanesque Revival. Photos of both the exterior and the University Theatre auditorium are featured on this page of the University of Colorado’s web site.
UCB’s film series was moved to the newly completed, 400-seat Muenzinger Auditorium in 1983, and now also has a secondary venue in the 200-seat Visual Arts Complex Auditorium.
This paragraph is from a brief article about a Steger & Sons piano, originally installed in Clyne’s Theatre, now in the possession of the Steelworks Center Museum in Pueblo:
An item about the Clyne Theatre appearing in the April 14, 1917 issue of The American Contractor names G. W. Roe as the architect for the project. A brief biography of George W. Roe from the Colorado Historical Society says that he also designed the 1904 library building at the University of Colorado in Boulder which was later converted into the University Theatre.The April 14, 1917 issue of The American Contractor had this item about a theater to be built in Table Rock:
The only other references I can find to A. Bandy on the Internet are all connected with his design of the Lincoln Hotel in Scottsbluff. His connection to the Table Rock Theatre has apparently been forgotten by local historians, as I don’t find him mentioned on the page SethG linked to.I wonder what the odds are that someone could raise a million bucks on GoFundMe? I can’t imagine they’d be very good.
Club Fais Do-Do’s web site includes a gallery, and I believe the gallery section titled The Ballroom shows the Variety Theatre’s former auditorium.
The book I cited on my 2012 comment dating the opening of the Capitol Theatre to 1935 was wrong, according to Jan Bradley, the Capitol’s last owner, and granddaughter of the theater’s founder, Earle Hendren. The house opened in September, 1940, and was converted into a twin cinema in the 1980s by Bradley’s father, who enclosed the balcony to accommodate a second screen. Bradley is quoted in this article published by The Erwin Record on August 9, 2019. The article, which announced Bradley’s decision to make the closing of the theater permanent, did not give the exact date of the Capitol’s last shows.
The article posted by rivest266 notes that the projected Marcal Theatre was being designed by architect William Allen.
I could submit a page for it, but it would be very sketchy as I don’t have either a timeline for the theater or definite evidence of what the modern address would be. Perhaps Ken Roe would be able to find more information about it and add a page. I think he might have access to resources that I don’t have.
The Majestic Theatre that was next door to the Hippodrome was not the same house as the 1915 Majestic. The first Majestic must have either closed or been renamed by the time the new Majestic opened in 1915. As the Hippodrome opened in 1912 and lasted less than a year, closing in early 1913, the photo showing both of these houses in operation had to have been taken during that brief time.
I’ve been trying to discover if the old Majestic survived the opening of the new house, but the task is complicated by the fact that Detroit changed its addresses in 1921. As near as I can figure, the old Majestic’s address of 231-233 ended up in the 1500 block, and was just below Witherell Street. The first Majestic and Hippodrome were across the street and up a couple of doors from the Woodward Arcade, still standing at 1545 Woodward, so the first Majestic was probably at approximately 1550 Woodward. Apparently Cinema Treasures has no pages for either of them.
The original Hippodrome only lasted from July, 1912 until early 1913, so this photo has to date from that period. Over the sidewalk on the near side of the street we can see the sign for the Woodward Arcade, which has the modern address 1545 Woodward, which would put the first Majestic, the Hippodrome’s neighbor, at approximately 1550 Woodward.
This article from a local Westfield web site says that the 1941 Grand Theatre was the third of that name on the site. The first Grand opened in 1917, with 775 seats, and was destroyed by a fire on November 3, 1923. The rebuilt house reopened in September, 1924, and was destroyed in a second fire in 1940.
The third Grand opened July 17, 1941. The house was taken over by the Blatt Brothers circuit on July 7, 1965, and then by Kirsch Theatres of Erie, PA in the late 1970s. It closed around 1982. Plans were afoot to reopen the house in 1985, but they came to nothing. The building was demolished in 1992.
The January 1, 1910 issue ofThe New York Dramatic Mirror mentions the Geyer Grand Theatre in Lexington, Missouri. Charles Geyer was listed as the manager. The Geyer Grand was listed in the 1910-1911 Cahn guide as a 740-seat, ground floor house. It had been listed in the 1909-1910 guide as the New Grand Theatre.
A letter from the Lexington Historical Association in response to the Historic Missouri Theatres Questionnaire (a very large pdf but quite useful,) and dated June 10, 1998, has this paragraph about the Grand:
The house had become Wright’s Grand Theatre by 1913, as that is how it is listed in the 1913-1914 Cahn Guide. As the Grand is not one of the two movie houses listed at Lexington in the 1914-1915 edition of The American Motion Picture Directory it was likely still a live theater at that time. However, by 1917 (and possibly by late 1915) it had begun showing movies, as this item appeared in the September 1, 1917 issue of The Moving Picture World: